The invention relates to a quick-acting valve having a chamber which comprises an inlet opening, an outlet opening and a valve seat which can be closed with a movable valve body.
For certain applications quick-acting valves are required which are capable of permitting a fluid flow to pass abruptly through them as well as allowing a high switching rate. Applications for such valves are for example spectrometers where gas samples of precisely measured volumes are subjected to a spectrographic examination, the energizing of the control nozzles of satellites and the field of microsystem technology. For such applications valves with extremely short switching times and high repetition rate are required.
DE 38 35 788 A1 describes a quick-acting ball valve comprising a ball seated in a valve seat. An actuator device acting transversely to the valve seat allows the ball to be removed from the valve seat by a lateral impact. The resultant flow pushes the ball back to the valve seat. This quick-acting valve has turned out to be successful in practical application.
In the journal O+P "Olhydraulik und Pneumatik" 38 (1994), no. 9, pages 554-562, employment of piezoelectric actuators for quick-acting actuating drives are described. Piezoelectric actuators are used for example in dosing units for fluids with the actuator being attached to a nozzle tube which injects the fluid into an air jet. In this way quick-acting dosing devices suitable for various viscosities and droplet rates can be realized.
In the journal VDI-Z 119 (1977), no. 11-June (1), pages 569-570 a valve for fuel injection is described where a piezoelectric rod expands and contracts to control the valve opening process according to the pulse duration/modulation principle.